Power-gun-driven tapper

ABSTRACT

A tapper to be driven into a substantially rigid mass by a power gun for the extraction of fluid therefrom and having a longitudinal body of cylindrical section including transverse and longitudinal fluid passages. A stop collar limits the forward movement of the tapper and a rearwardly disposed pull ring, defines, with the stop collar, a groove for supporting a collection container and permitting reception of a removal tool.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Vincent F. Palmer 2106 Randolph Road,Apt 212, Wheaten, Md. 20902 [21 I Appl No. 830,801!

[22] Filed June 5,1969

[45] Patented Aug. 3, I971 54 rowen-cuu-nmvmv TAPPER 1 Claim, 6 DrawingFigs.

[52] U.S.Cl 417/53, 222/81 [51] Int.Cl ..A01g 23/l4, B67b 7/26 [50]Field ofSearch 47/5054, 57.5, l0-l I; 21/73; 222/80-87 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 45,996 1/1865 Hays 47/52 1,511,632 10/1924Penska 47, 53 1,583,900 5/1926 Schmittutz 21/73 FORElGN PATENTS 271,79711/1965 Australia..... 222/81 377,285 7/1932 Great Britain.. 222/81686,557 1/1953 Great Britain. 122/87 673,374 11/1963 Canada 47/52Primary Examiner-Robert E. Bagwili Attorneys-Emory L. Groff and Emory L.Groff, Jr.

ABSTRACT: A tapper to be driven into a substantially rigid mass by apower gun for the extraction of fluid therefrom and having alongitudinal body of cylindrical section including transverse andlongitudinal fluid passages. A stop collar limits the forward movementof the tapper and a rearwardly disposed pull ring, defines, with thestop collar, a groove for supporting a collection container and]permitting reception of a removal tool.

POWER-GUN-DRIVEN TAI I EI R This invention relates generally to tappers,and more particularly, to an elongated tapper element adapted to beinserted by a power gun application through the substantially dense wallof an object for the purpose of permitting the drainage of fluidtherefrom.

This device lends itself to many useful applications, one being thecollection of sap from maple trees as pursued in the manufacture ofmaple syrup. Many devices, commonly referred to as sap spouts, have beenknown for the extraction of sap from trees; however the presentinvention should be considered in its broadest aspects as a tool whichis driven part way into a substantially solid mass by the application ofan impact or blow as provided by a power gun and includes means thereinpermitting the extraction of fluid from the mass material for collectionfrom the rear or outer end of the tool.

Prior known tappers have included many intricate devices oftencomprising a plurality of components each requiring separatemanufacturing phases prior to final assembly. The presenttappercomprises an integral member which may be fabricated by a plurality ofconventional machine operations and yet presents a device havingnumerous features lending itself to application by means of a power gun.I-Ieretofore many tappers included a member of relatively large diameterand often required a threaded area at the forward end thereof, whereuponit was necessa ry to initially bore a relatively large hole into theside of the tree trunk prior to application of the tapper whichnecessitated a time-consuming operation involving the use of a wrench toscrew the tapper into the bore of the tree. With the present device onemerely inserts the outer end of the tapper into the power gun, actuatesthe gun, and this single action drives the tapper into the tree to apoint juxtaposed a stop collar. Sap-collecting means are then joined tothe outer portion of the tapper and no further action is then required.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide an improved power-gun-driven tapper comprisinga unitary memberhaving a forward body section bounded at one end by a conical drivingpoint and at the other by a peripheral stop collar and including arearwardly disposed pull ring located adjacent an impact head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved powergun driven tapper including a longitudinal body having a plurality ofelongated transverse slots in the forward portion thereof, each slotcommunicating with a cylindrical chamber extending from the forwardportion of the body rearwardly through the outer end thereof.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation illustrating the installation of the tapperof thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the tapper of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the powergundriventapper of the present invention.

' FIG. 4 is an end view of the tapper of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, and illustrates anotheruse of the invention.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawing. Referring now to the drawing, moreparticularly FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention will be seen tocomprise a tapper, generally designated T, adapted to be partiallyinserted within the confines of a substantially dense mass such as thetree trunk l by means of a power gun generally designated 2. It will beappreciated that any one of the numerous power gun devices on the marketof metal and comprises an elongated cylindrical member including aforward or main body section 3, the longitudinal extent of whichaccounts for the ,majority ofthe overall tapper length. The forwardmostportion of the main body section 3 terminates in a sharp conical drivingpoint 4 while the rear portion of the main body section is bounded by astop collar 5 concentrically disposed with respect to the main bodysection and providing a radially extendingstop shoulder 6 adjacent theperiphery of the mainbody section 3. A second concentric element, namelya pull ring 7, is disposed slightly rearwardly of the stop collar 5 andprovides, together with the stop collar, a hanger groove 8 therebetween.

As will be seen most clearly in FIG. 3, the rearmost portion of thetapper T comprises an impact head 9 including a cylindrieal peripheryhaving a roughened or knurled surface 10 and a rearmost face defining animpact face 111. The rearwardly facing radial surface of the pull ring 7intermediate this ring and the cylindrical surface 10 of the impact head9 defines a drive shoulder 12.

Except for the material forming the conical driving point 4 of thetapper which is of a solid mass of material, the remainder of thelongitudinal extent of the tapper includes an inner cylindrical passagewhich is referred to as a fluid-collecting chamber 113 and isillustrated in the sectional view of FIG. 5. This chamber 13 begins atthe forward portion of the main body section 3 immediately to the rearof the conical driving point 4 and extends rearwardly throughout theentire extent of the main body section, continuing therefrom through theimpact face ll of the impact head 9 as a drainage canal 14.

When it is desired to install the tapper T of the present invention soas to achieve the use position as shown in FIG. 3, it will be understoodthat the selected power gun 2 is associated with the rear end of thetapper T and includes means (not shown) whereupon when the power gun 2is actuated a driving impact force will be delivered to the impact face11 and/or the drive shoulder R2 in order to drive the tapper T forwardin a longitudinal direction with this forward movement terminating uponabutment of the stop shoulder 6 of the collar 5 with the outer exposedsurface of the tree trunk l. The operation of extracting fluid fromwithin the confines of the tree trunk l is facilitated by an arrangementof openings in the periphery of the main body section 3. As shown inFIG. 2, a pair of elongated slots 15-15 are provided on opposite sidesof the main body section 3, the vertical height of which is preferablyless than the diameter of the collecting chamber 13 while the lengththereof will be seen to encompass the majority of the longitudinalextent between the stop shoulder 6 of the stop collar 5 and the rearmostportion of the conical driving point 4. Quite obviously, any number ofsuch slots I5 could be provided through the periphery of the main bodysection 3; how ever the illustrated embodiment has been found to bequite adequate in ensuringboth a tapper having sufficient strength towithstand application by a power gun and also to provide an improvedcollection system for obtaining a maximum flow of fluid from within thetree trunk 1.

Considering FIG. 3 of the drawing, the use of the instant device will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art. The peripheral groove 8defined by the longitudinally spaced-apart elements 5 and 7 providespositive means for retaining the. hanger 16 of a suitable collectionmember such as the sap bucket 17. As fluid within the tree trunk l flowsthrough the plurality of elongated transverse slots 15 it is thendirected into the centrally disposed collecting chamber 13 leadingthence to the drainage canal l4 and exiting therefrom through the impactface 11. Additional fluid-directing means such as the drain hose 118 mayalso be provided to ensure positive flow of the fluid into thecollecting means 17. In this regard the knurled surface 10 on theperiphery of the impact head 9 will be appreciated as means ensuring theattachment and retention of the upper end of the drain hose to theimpact head 9. With the arrangement of the elongated slots 15 andcollecting chamber 13 as shown in FIG. 5 wherein the diameter of thischamber is slightly greater than the vertical height of each of theslots the collection of fluid by means of the present tapperissignificantly improved since it will be seen that a troughlike area isformed in the bottom of the collecting chamber between the two bottomsurfaces of the adjacent elongated slots whereby all fluid communicatingwith the two slots will subsequently seek the lowest level and thus bedirected to the bottom of the collecting chamber and out of the tapper.

Upon termination of fluid collection, the removal of the tapper from thetree trunk 1 is greatly facilitated by means of the pull ring 7, whichtogether with the hanger groove 8 adjacent thereto, provides a readysurface for the reception of any suitable tool for the purpose ofexerting a'rearward movement upon the tapper.

As shown in FIG. 6 the tapper T may be utilized to withdraw fluid from ahollow type of storage container such as the barrel or drum 19.Application by means for the power gun I will be seen to be extremelyadvantageous in such an environment since the highly vibrant nature ofthe container wall would obviously resist insertion of the tapper bymeans of repeated blows by a hand-wielded hammer. In addition,application by any means other than a high-speed single-impact powertool would result in leakage of fluid through the slots 15 followingpartial penetration of the main body section 3 through the wall 20. Toprovide a positive seal between the stop collar 5 and container wall 20any suitable form of sealing ring or gasket (not shown) may be mountedupon the main body section 3 adjacent the stop collar 5.

lclaim:

1. A tapper of unitary construction having a longitudinal body includinga cylindrical forward body section, a conical driving point at the freeend of said forward body section, a radially outwardly directedcircumferentially extending collar on said longitudinal body at the rearof said forward body section, a radially outwardly directedcircumferentially extending pull ring on said longitudinal body spacedrearwardly of said collar and being of substantially the same dimensionas said collar, said collar and said ring defining a groove therebetweenof arcuate cross section substantially complementary to the crosssection of a bucket hanger received therein, a substantially cylindricalimpact head at the rear of said body extending rearwardly of said pullring, said impact head having a length at least approximately one-halfthe length of said forward body section and having substantially thesame outer diameter as said forward body section, said impact headhaving a wall thickness and being of a construction so that it isadapted to receive repeated blows sufficient to embed the tapper to adesired depth in a means such as a tree, said impact head having theouter surface thereof roughened and receiving a drain hose thereover forretaining the drain hose in operative position, a centralfluid-collecting chamber formed within said body and extendingrearwardly from said forward body section adjacent said driving pointand opening through the rear of said impact head, said forward bodysection being provided with a pair of elongated transverse slotsextending through the major part of the longitudinal length of saidforward body section and being in communication with said chamber, saidslots being disposed diametrically opposite one another and having aheight less than the diameter of said chamber.

1. A tapper of unitary construction having a longitudinal body includinga cylindrical forward body section, a conical driving point at the freeend of said forward body section, a radially outwardly directedcircumferentially extending collar on said longitudinal body at the rearof said forward body section, a radially outwardly directedcircumferentially extending pull ring on said longitudinal body spacedrearwardly of said collar and being of substantially the same dimensionas said collar, said collar and said ring defining a groove therebetweenof arcuate cross section substantially complementary to the crosssection of a bucket hanger received therein, a substantially cylindricalimpact head at the rear oF said body extending rearwardly of said pullring, said impact head having a length at least approximately one-halfthe length of said forward body section and having substantially thesame outer diameter as said forward body section, said impact headhaving a wall thickness and being of a construction so that it isadapted to receive repeated blows sufficient to embed the tapper to adesired depth in a means such as a tree, said impact head having theouter surface thereof roughened and receiving a drain hose thereover forretaining the drain hose in operative position, a centralfluid-collecting chamber formed within said body and extendingrearwardly from said forward body section adjacent said driving pointand opening through the rear of said impact head, said forward bodysection being provided with a pair of elongated transverse slotsextending through the major part of the longitudinal length of saidforward body section and being in communication with said chamber, saidslots being disposed diametrically opposite one another and having aheight less than the diameter of said chamber.